One Week

Early this afternoon I was walking down Front Street in Toronto with Paddy, talking about Canadian TV show Being Erica, when he told me that Margaret Atwood had just walked by. She'd seen him notice her and had smiled at him so he'd said hello. All this while I was obvliously chattering away about the great Toronto locations (the Distillery District, Yorkville, Centre Island, Front Street, Casa Loma etc.) being featured in Being Erica.

To top it off we were on our way to watch Canadian road movie One Week at the time. So quite the Canadiana moment all round!

Every second review of this movie I've read (possibly more) have described One Week as a love letter to Canada and, indeed, that's exactly what it is—with gorgeous scenery, references to national hero Terry Fox and Tim Hortons' roll up the rim contest, a musical soundtrack that includes tracks ranging from Sam Roberts Hard Road to French Canadian folk song Un Canadien Errant, a Stanley Cup encounter and a cameo by Gord Downie—Canadians, you gotta see One Week!

Not only is One Week beautiful and full to the brim with Canadiana, it manages to nicely sidestep the cheese factor that could've easily accompanied the material. Main character Ben (played by Joshua Jackson) is diagnosed with stage four cancer in Toronto as the film opens. He should be headed straight for treatment but with a diagnosis that says Ben may have a maximum of two years to live, he's adamant about stealing some time for himself before he becomes a patient. So Ben buys himself a motorcycle and drives west across the country, on his way to mile zero of the Trans-Canada Highway. It's a voyage of both internal and external discovery that I think Canadians will appreciate most but international viewers will also appreciate the film's charm, sincerity and breathtaking landscapes.

Share Now :

likes to write things down and is a firm believer in the John Lennon quote, "If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal." Her ninth young adult book, JUST LIKE YOU SAID IT WOULD BE, is packed with movie references and giddy love for Dublin, Ireland and her middle grade debut STRICKEN is a sci-fi adventure that happens to be set in Dublin too.

Canadian & Irish novelist of character-driven fiction from sci-fi to slice of life. Film school grad. Time traveller. Billy Bragg fan. Living with chronic illness. True believer in the John Lennon quote, “If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal.”